Work Culture and women's Social Recognition in Nursing Profession

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We realized two field researches 1998 to 1999. Firstly, we conducted interviews with male nurses in an university hospital situated in Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Secondly, we conducted a survey research, using a questionnaire, with 200 females and males nurses in a public hospital situated at a big local city, Sendai. In the years 2000-2001, we analyzed the results of the field researches and wrote a report of 86 pages.For our conclusion, two points are given below :(1) Many nurses choose the nursing profession for the reason of its social recognition, but almost nurses stop working when they get married. We consider that it is difficult for them to construct a professional career in spite of their relatively high motivation for working. This interruption of professional activity will constitute an important problem for establishing a professional status of nurses. It is supposed that this can also contribute to lowering their salary.(2) Through discourse analysis of the interviews with male nurses, we discovered a dimension of social construction concerning differences between men and women. We noticed that some nurses express arguments of the advantage of masculinity in the female profession. A male nurses as a typical case argues that men are capable to continue their professional activity in terms of their competences, which are not only cultural but also biological.The sexual division of labor, then, remains an obstacle to the professionalization of nurses. We can present a hypothesis that the gendered dimension is to be deconstructed for realizing the work culture of a true profession. This hypothesis derived from the study of nursing profession can be enlarged to other professional activities of women.